Deaf Man In Prison 33 Years for a Murder he did Not Commit

Felix Garcia is a kind deaf man who has been in prison for 33 years for a murder he did not commit. Please help me set him free.

What happened to Felix Garcia may be the worst story I’ve ever heard in my life. Felix was framed for murder by his own brother when he was just 19 years old; now he has been in prison for more than 30 years. His brother has since signed a sworn affidavit swearing that he committed the murder that sent Felix to prison for life.

What’s even worse is that Felix is deaf — he couldn’t even understand the testimony at his own trial. For Felix, every day in prison is like lonely and miserable solitary confinement.

Felix was just 19 when his older brother and his sister’s boyfriend committed an armed robbery that led to a murder. Felix was a kind kid with a girlfriend and a new baby daughter. He had no idea what he was doing when he signed a pawn shop receipt at his siblings’ request for a ring that was stolen during the robbery. That receipt became the sole piece of physical evidence that sent Felix to prison for life.

I’m a paralegal, and I’ve been fighting to free Felix for more than seventeen years. The justice system has failed Felix, so I need your help to bring national attention to his story. Please sign my petition to set Felix free.

After Felix’s siblings lied in court and sent him to prison, his parents abandoned him. They told him they were moving and not to look for them if he ever got out of prison.

Felix’s older brother, Frank, signed a sworn affidavit in 1989 saying that he had committed the murder, and that he had lied when he testified against Felix. That affidavit was misfiled, so it wasn’t presented in court until 17 years later. At that hearing, despite 6 sworn affidavits and Frank’s confession, the judge said he just didn’t know what was true. He sent Felix back to prison.

In 1999, after one of Felix’s worst setbacks, I went to the jail and told him, ‘Felix, I am sticking with you till the very end. I will be that mother you don’t have, that sister you don’t have.’ He’s called me Mom ever since.

I still have so much hope for Felix. In the past year two innocent people have been freed from prison after successful Change.org petitions convinced their governor to grant them clemency. I know we can do the same for Felix. He needs us. I can’t do it on my own. He needs our help to come home.

Please click here to sign the petition calling on Governor Rick Scott to grant clemency to Felix. He is an innocent man, and it’s time for his nightmare to be over.